#completely nice and sane. when he's a major character in a faction that makes an entire game with their actions and ideology

[a-world-in-grey]

King’s Speech in Eos

Prompted by and ask from @ends-of-the-wayward-storm that spiraled out of control. Tagging @secret-engima because she’s always down for my rambles.

If anything doesn’t make sense or you notice any grievous errors, let me know!

I’m gonna cover the broad history of King’s Speech, including origin, evolution, and its spread throughout Eos, along with some hcs on the varying concurrent historical events that would influence the language. It’ll be somewhat vague, because we don’t have hard dates for... a lot of events.

Origin

Gonna start with a bit of set up for what Eos might have looked like around Somnus’ time.

Going way back, we’ve got Solheim. We know it existed in at least Cleigne and Duscae, given we’ve found ruins there. I also theorize that the rest of the Solheim Empire stretched further north of Cleigne and maybe even up to the three islands off the north-western coast of the Cleigne region. It’s possible the Solheim empire stretched into Western continent - most likely Tenebrae and Succarpe and Eusciello - but I don’t have enough information to make a solid assumption one way or the other.

As the ruling power of the time, Solheimian would have been the dominant language within their territory (think Roman empire and Latin), and it would have persisted amongst the survivors after Solheim fell.

On the Eastern continent, that would have been the Cleigne and Duscae regions. On the Western continent, Pitzala, where they did find very ancient remains of humans that I think were theorized to be from that time period?

So Ancient Solheim would have influenced the languages in Cleigne, Duscae, and part of Tenebrae.

Now we get to Somnus’ time. Somnus, who founded Lucis, whose tomb is in Duscae. It is very, very likely that Duscae is Somnus’s birthplace, and the birthplace of the Lucian Kingdom. And early King’s Speech.

So, we’ve got at the moment, the various regions/kingdoms: On the Eastern continent - Cleigne, the newly formed Lucis in Duscae, Leide, Cavaugh, and Galahd. Accordo is in the middle of the ocean to the south. And on the Western continent - Tenebrae (the mountainous Ulwaat region and the coast Pitzala region) and Niflheim (the regions of Succarpe, Eusciello, Vogliupe, and Ueltham).

At this point, the Old Lucian language will have the most in common with the language of the Cleigne region (they might even be different dialects of the same language) and Tenebrae, as Aera and Ardyn are shown to have no issues communicating. (Admittedly, the historical world building in the game is not what I would call extensive, so it’s likely the game developers and writers never actually considered this when making the game.)

Leide will have its own language, as will Cavaugh and Galahd. Accordo has its own language, one likely to be vastly different from any of the others on the continents. As far as Niflheim, the Ueltham region will have a separate language, perhaps similar to the Vogliupe region, and the Succarpe and Eusciello regions might have similarities but will be separate from the Tenebrae and inland languages.

So there’s Old Lucian (Duscae and Cleigne dialects), Old Tenebraen (which is separate but mutually intelligible to Old Lucian), Old Leidan, Old Cavaugh, Old Galahdian, Old Accordan, Old Niflheimian (Ueltham and Vogliupe dialects), and Old Succarpe/Eusciello.

Someone please write a fic of that era where the characters have to deal with language barriers. Please. Think of the sheer opportunity for miscommunication! The drama! The comedy!

Old Lucian to Middle Lucian: Birth of Continental Lucian

Also known as the Lucian Kings get Conquest Happy.

Rome falls, Latin lingers but ultimately falls out of global use, and Late West Saxon is the predominant language in England.

And then 1066 rolls around and the Normans invade, bringing both French and Latin with them. The West Saxon language of the common locals eventually picks up the Norman and Old Norse from the ruling upper class, and the Latin from the Church, becoming Anglo-Norman, better known as Middle English.

Congratulations, this is exactly what happens when Lucis conquers Leide and Cavaugh. Just replace West Saxon with Old Leidan and Old Cavaugh, and French-Latin with Old Lucian-Tenebraen.

Mix well, and bam, we’ve now got what Lucian historians will call Continental Lucian.

Galahd is still minding its own business, and no sane Lucian wants to go to the jungle, so while Old Galahdian isn’t the same as was during Somnus’ era, vocab falling in and out of use, it hasn’t changed all that much.

Old Niflheimian has changed however. Ueltham is somewhat isolated from the rest of the continent, so their language changes less, but the Vogluipe region has evolved to the point they are no longer a different dialect of Old Niflheimian but their own separate language as they pick up bits and pieces from Tenebrae and Eusciello. Old Tenebraen will develop two different dialects by this point - High and Low Tenebraen. Low Tenebraen will shift closer to Vogliupe, Eusciello, and Succarpe influences and is the common language in Tenebrae. High Tenebraen is the language of religion and used by the Oracles, priests, and upper classes. It’s the language used for higher education on the Western continent.

Accordo, unlike Galahd, has become the trading hub of the world, and picks up influences from Leide, Lucis, Succarpe, and Tenebrae, which shifts them from Old Accordan to Middle Accordan.

Global Conquest: Rise of the King’s Speech

Or, in other words, The Warrior.

Loses his wife, wages global war in his grief. Only one of the Kings of Yore to have his tomb outside the Lucian continent. (Which I also have hcs on but that is a completely separate post.)

Now, the writers do not tell us just how far the Warrior or the kingdom of Lucis managed to conquer. The Warrior is buried in Tenebrae, so we know he made it at least that far.

Which, I’m going to quibble on in just bit.

Given how the King’s Speech is global, even in Niflheim (presumably, we don’t ever see your run of the mill Niflheimian commoners/working class), it’s highly likely that Lucis once controlled both continents. And Accordo.

And here’s where we get into some, well, very not nice parts of history.

King’s Speech is the language of Eos. The only other language we ever see is that of the Astrals (and maybe Ancient Solheim? That wasn’t in the cutscenes so I’m a bit iffy), which means either the majority of Eos are bilingual, or King’s Speech is the only language.

How do you make half a dozen other languages disappear?

Genocide.

Not necessarily full on Holocaust round them up and exterminate them. But by forbidding them to speak or write in their language. Ever. By taking their children and raising them in a different culture, until there’s no one left who remembers how to speak their language at all.

It’s horrible, I know, and I doubt anyone wants to go that dark when writing their fics, but that’s what history tells us. The Indigenous tribes of North America, forced onto reservations and sent to ‘cultural’ schools to raise them as ‘white men.’ Britain, making it illegal to speak Welsh, Irish, and Scottish. Those are the examples I’m most familiar with, but I don’t doubt there’s a lot more.

A language is a representation of its people. Of its culture. It changes with its people.

And dies with them.

So for at least a couple generations - probably closer to five or six - Lucis occupied most of the world. But not all of it.

Tenebrae.

Tenebrae, the longstanding allies of Lucis. Tenebrae, ruled by the only other family with Bahamut’s Blessing. It would not be surprising at all if Tenebrae served as a foothold for Lucian forces to strike into Niflheim territory, to conquer the continent.

It can be so very easy to go from, we are blessed, to we deserve this, to we deserve more. When a Blessing becomes a Birthright, where does it stop?

When your Empire crumbles.

We don’t have a date for the rise of the Aldercapt dynasty. Only that they became the rulers of Niflheim, and they later decided to conquer the world, using magitek advances uncovered from Solheim ruins.

Which, if you are the ones to lead the faction that frees your home from the occupying forces, you might just get put in charge. And then if you need a way to defend your people in case the magic wielding enemies come back, you might just turn to the ancient civilization rumored to have fought the Astrals.

Yeah. Can’t really argue with that.

So King’s Speech becomes the global language. Ueltham, Vogliupe, Euscellio, and Succarpe disappear. Low Tenebraen likely disappears as well. Accordo may suffer its own occupation during this time, in which Accordan disappears, or it gets so heavily colonized by Lucians that the two languages merge, producing the Accordan dialect of King’s Speech.

Modern King’s Speech

With the entire world - with a couple exceptions - now speaking the same language and Lucian forces pushed back to their own continent, we’re going to start seeing different dialects emerge again.

Niflheim will develop their own dialect, different accents in Ueltham, Vogliupe, Eusciello, and Succarpe, but the same dialect depending on how rapid Niflheim’s technological advancement is. 

Tenebraen King’s Speech will be closest to Old Tenebraen and Old Lucian, and therefore known as High King’s Speech, favored by the upper classes around the world, but especially in Tenebrae, Niflheim, and Insomnia. 

Accordan King’s Speech will be the dialect most different from Standard King’s Speech, due to lingering Accordan influences but also due to Accordo being a major trade center and being influenced by the other dialects.

Lucian King’s Speech will become known as Standard King’s Speech. There will be a couple notable dialects, the Leidan and Insomnian dialects though the Leidan dialect will be the most noticeable.

At some point, Galahd is also conquered, but while they submit and King’s Speech becomes part of Galahd, they remain insular enough that they keep their native language alive. Though there is enough influence from the mainland through King’s Speech on Old Galahdian that it firmly shifts into the Modern Galahdian language.

#Shadow of Heaven's Light #ffxv #worldbuilding #language #King's Speech #language reflects history #and history is not always kind

[gascon-en-exil]

FE16 Blue Lions Liveblogging

Chapters 17-18. Lots of heavy plot content here.

The further along I get in the war phase the more superfluous the monastery content and calendar system becomes. I haven’t gotten any new paralogues since Annette and Gilbert’s, because I believe you only get ones for characters you’ve recruited and I’ve exhausted all of those. I’ve read that Dimitri may have one toward the end, and Mercedes shares hers with Caspar of all people so that’ll have to wait for a playthrough when I do inter-house recruiting, but apart from that everyone in my army has had one. There’s little to do at the monastery but grind professor rank and Renown, mostly for supports and a last few skill ranks. What little there is in the way of quests is just Gilbert asking for resource contributions. It’s like the endgame WoW of years past, only without even the option to do group content (not that I would, but regardless).

The enemy AI for the school phase’s Battle of the Eagle and Lion allowed it to feel like a genuine struggle between three opposing armies, but round 2 in the war phase sacrificed narrative for the sake of difficulty. The Alliance forces charged my position after a few turns and didn’t go for the Empire at all, leaving me to play more defensively to neutralize their flying archer lord (...I really hope Claude spontaneously getting a wyvern gets some kind of explanation in the Deer route, something more than “because Almyran, just go with it”). Dedue once against punched Edelgard into submission because he’s distinctly good at that - really goes along with the hunting her down and killing her bit in another route, which TVTropes is now claiming can still happen if you choose to spare her. Huh.

Student kills: Ferdinand and Bernadetta from the Eagles, Lorenz, Raphael, Ignatz, Leonie, and Lysithea from the Deer, with the others either retreating or still unseen in the war phase. Petra was the only one who really surprised me by retreating instead of dying.

Starting in Chapter 18 Dimitri can be interacted with again like a normal unit. While I have issues with some of the presentation behind his change of heart (see below), it’s good to have him working on supports and building his skill ranks during training sessions again. Not that he really needs the latter; his stats are massive and both his sword and lance ranks are nearly maxed out.

The story map for Chapter 18 introduces magic/technology hybrids that act like either monsters or siege towers, on top of having at least one enemy caster with a traditional siege spell. Adding a lever far into the map to shut down the lightning towers was a nice touch.

Most of the master classes have been a pain to grind toward, as only a few units have what it takes to be true hybrids. Sylvain is evidently one of them, but sending Mercedes through cavalier to work on her riding for holy knight made her borderline useless. At least some of the advanced classes are good enough to where they could feasibly work for endgame (but I do still want a holy knight, so Mercedes will continue poking things for a while).

Story/Character observations

I’ve been getting all kinds of A supports. Dimitri/Dedue and Felix/Sylvain are as gay as advertised. Catherine/Ashe is one of those rare plot-heavy support lines, where we find out more about Lonato and Ashe’s own drive for revenge. Byleth/Gilbert is not even slightly romantic even late into their A support, which makes me wonder why he’s an S rank option for either gender when it’s more about pushing him to go home to his wife. Ditto Gilbert’s supports with Annette. Ashe/Annette gets kind of cute in the end, but Felix/Annette involves entirely too many of her comically bad songs to be endearing. Manuela cuts out the cougar routine when she spies on Sylvain being an asshole. Catherine thought young Dimitri was a maiden based on his haircut (as seen in the CG of him dancing with Edelgard - this guy is forever doomed to multiple varieties of bad hair) and repeats Felix’s taunt that Dimitri used to get so excited while training that he’d break swords in half but he’s better with lances even though they have less durability? I forget with whom, but Dimitri shuts down the impossible dream of fellow lance lord Ephraim by acknowledging that his traveling the world as a warrior would be irresponsible. The gender of Shamir’s first love might depend on Byleth’s - will have to see how the f!Byleth support words it. 

As for the story, this is the moment where Dimitri makes his turn back toward sanity and a sense of personal responsibility. Just as I predicted, his decision to allow that unnamed orphan girl to join the army turns out to have been a bad one. After Rodrigue takes a blade for his prince and Byleth shows himself again adept at swift executions, Dimitri is moved by the death of yet another of his loved ones to go walking in the rain and respond favorably to vaguely inspirational dialogue choices. While I understand what the writers were going for, I have two issues with this sequence of events. The first is minor, in that the CGs used for them - of Fleche preparing to stab Dimitri and Rodrigue stepping between them, of the dying Rodrigue cradling Dimitri’s face, and of Dimitri in the rain - don’t do a very good job of matching the intended mood. The first two use sunset lighting and thus appear much too soft, while Dimitri in the rain with his hair plastered to his head alone against a black background looks unsettling and almost creepy for what’s meant to be his big moment of redemption. That’s a small quibble with artistic choice, however.

On the other hand, my other issue will take a whole post to explain. I’ll be saving that for a larger Dimitri/Dedue project after I’ve completed playthroughs of all the routes routes, but my basic argument is this: Dedue being removed and then optionally re-inserted into the Blue Lions storyline was necessary for Dimitri’s emotional arc to make sense, and to allow Byleth a much larger role in said arc than they otherwise would have had. Yes, I have major shipping goggles on here, but try to imagine a scenario where Dedue saves Dimitri from prison and they go on the run together for five years, before reuniting with everyone at the monastery.

To no one’s surprise, Dedue takes up watching after the prince in the monastery the chapter after he returns. In Chapter 18 he comments that he’s the only that Dimitri hasn’t really changed despite appearing more sane, that he’s still too kind and sensitive to the suffering of war and that Dedue admires him for that. They’re just laying the subtext on thick now.

Related to my problem with the Alliance AI in the threeway battle, it’s never explained why Claude joins the battle at Gronder Field (apart from getting him into that cutscene they all share, anwyay). Prior to that battle House Reigan opposed the Empire and even engaged House Gloucester’s pro-Imperial faction to distract them from Chapter 16′s bridge.  As the next chapter’s title references the Deer however I imagine I’ll get an explanation sooner rather than later.

Cornelia’s cleavage may be impossible, but as far as under-dressed female villains in this series go she wasn’t terrible. She doesn’t flirt with anyone and apparently got her lofty position in the Kingdom through her talents at magic and infrastructure reform (which may have included the turrets and giant robots in Fhirdiad? Was that the implication?). Her dying revelation about Dimitri’s stepmother would have landed better had we ever seen anything of her, but I suppose as Edelgard’s birth mother she’ll be brought up again in some capacity on her route.

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Spoilers